


Alder Run 300

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [264]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 00:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12200328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: Alder Run celebrates its founding 300 years ago.





	Alder Run 300

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Emila-Wan and Carol  
> Mali Wane and Laura McEwan for posting to the Master Apprentice ML  
> Travis for posting to the Master Apprentice Archive on AO3  
> Alex for inspiring Arcadia 
> 
> References:  
> [Scarborough Fair (ballad) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Fair_\(ballad\))  
> [Let's Go Fly a Kite | Disney Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia](http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Let%27s_Go_Fly_a_Kite)
> 
>  
> 
> For all my friends on MA and AO3
> 
>  
> 
> This is my 300th story on the AO3 archive. So exciting! 
> 
> Thank you very much for the happiness you've given me through the years.

  
[Helen](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Helen)'s gorgeous photoset 

Saturday, September 23rd was a date to celebrate in Alder Run -- the village had been founded 300 years ago today.

All sorts of events were taking place on Main Street, which was closed to traffic for the afternoon. A street fair was going on with many activities and vendors: a used-book sale to raise money for the Library Fund; booths for games and arts and crafts; an outdoor cafe with local restaurants supplying the food; a raffle of a dinner for two at Rex's Diner, with the proceeds going to the Rescue Squad; a chalk-drawing contest on the sidewalk; a bake sale to benefit the municipal Fire Department.

The street was festooned with streamers of silver and gold stars, balloons, and banners to make it positively coruscating. Master Yodama, the revered sensei of the professors' dojo, The Academy of the Light, handed out free glow sticks to the children, who were having impromptu lightsaber duels on the sidewalk. Live music was playing between noon and 4 pm.

There were more events further afield -- free paddle-boating and kayaking on the lake; foot races and kite-flying along the bike path. The men looked forward to seeing Mr. Jefferson's grandson Samwise fly his kite later on; they had been visiting them across the street when Sam had constructed it in the back yard. It was a beautiful sight, in various shades of purple.

It was an overcast day, with a chance of rain, but when Ian looked at the sky, as well as the local weather forecast, it seemed like it might hold off for at least a couple of hours. He and Quinn decided to go to the street fair first, since the events at the bike path and lake would be held tomorrow, if they were rained out today.

The temperature was in the low 70s, unseasonally warm for Alder Run at this time of year, so both of them wore their Skyhawks t-shirts over faded denim shorts to keep cool. They walked through their neighborhood, then went two blocks further to get to the intersection of Hydian Way and Main.

The men arrived at the fair at 12:48, looking forward to good food and fun that afternoon. They started walking up Main Street, where a little girl, with her mother smiling by her side, was greeting all of the partygoers with balloons. Much to the delight of the professors, she chose a green one for Quinn and a blue for Ian. They strolled down the street, passing by the various attractions and waving to their friends and neighbors. Both of them bowed to Master Yodama with the utmost respect; when he returned the gesture, the children surrounding him with glow sticks began to bow in turn.

The band was playing 'Scarborough Fair', which they still had happy memories of hearing live twice before. The first time was a decade ago, on their vacation to Quebec. A busker had sung and played it as they walked along a path by the Saint Lawrence Seaway. A few years later, they'd attended an Art Garfunkel concert in Central Park in 2011, as part of their bachelor-party festivities, where he sang it as only he could. In future years, it would become a part of the soundtrack of the fair for them, the haunting melody evoking another happy memory.

They ambled up to a booth selling leather goods; after expert negotiations, both of them got brown belts decorated with a Celtic Knot design. The buckles were silver and had a tiny four-leaf clover engraved on them. At the next booth, they each bought an 'Alder Run 300' carry-all, sold by the Boy Scouts, since they anticipated doing their fair share of shopping this afternoon. Ian tied their balloons to the handles of the carry-alls, using his best square knot, which he'd learned decades ago, when he was a scout himself.

Next, the professors visited the used-book tables, which Mrs. Chang ran in her cheerful and efficient way. After exchanging greetings with her, they looked at each other with eyes agleam -- they loved to discover out-of-print and rare books. After all, they couldn't always count on Benjamin Nu in New Anoat to locate hard-to-find volumes for them. Success today for both men: first, Quinn found an autographed copy of 'The Door into Fire' by Diane Duane; then, Ian held up a book like a trophy for his husband to see -- a 49-year-old first edition of '2001: A Space Odyssey' by Aurthur C. Clarke. Their carry-alls were filling up nicely.

As soon as they strolled up to the bake-sale table, both Violet and Prudence knew that the Fire Department would be getting a substantial donation. "Hello, my friends," said Violet. "We've got many of your favorites today -- walnut brownies, dark-chocolate-chip cookies with pecans, drunken pumpkin pie, streusel cake, and blondies with butterscotch chips. And these Boston Cream donuts just came out of the oven an hour ago. What's your pleasure?"

"Hello, ladies," Quinn answered, with a bow which came naturally to him, and Ian echoed his greeting. After a couple of minutes of high-sucrose negotiations, Quinn said, "We'd like a dozen cookies, half a dozen donuts, four brownies, and three slices of streusel cake, please." Since Lelia was coming over for a visit tomorrow with her parents and grandparents, he'd asked for extra treats, which had the happy result of raising more funds for the local library. They thanked their neighbors and confirmed their date to play Scrabble with them next Friday night.

Next to Prudence and Violet's table, the Debate Club of Alder Run High had a booth, selling caramel apples with chopped pecans and chocolate-dipped apples with chopped walnuts. The men bought two of each to slice and share with their family this Sunday.

They decided to put the belts and books in one carry-all and the food in the other, even though the baked goods were all wrapped in wax paper and neatly stored in Ziplocs. Ian diplomatically let Quinn carry the treats, knowing that he'd probably sneak a cookie or two before they went home.

They decided to have lunch at the cafe and sat at a table near a maple tree, whose leaves were just starting to turn burnt orange at the tips. At the top of the menu, it said that all of the restaurants would donate the proceeds, along with non-perishable food, to the victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

Since many local eateries were participating, the menu was more eclectic than usual. They could choose from pesto pizza, buffalo burgers, beef gyros, vegetable lasagna, tandoori lamb, and shrimp with orange flavor. Ian decided to get the shrimp, while Quinn ordered the tandoori dish. Each of them asked for a pint of Guinness Stout to wash it all down.

"What a beautiful way to celebrate 300 years of history," said Ian, sitting back in his chair.

"'Tis, indeed, laddie mine," Quinn said. "And we've had a front-row seat to enjoy the past eleven years of it."

Ian nodded. "So glad we had the guts to buy a home here, even before your folks knew about us."

"You've always been my brave lad," said Quinn, pride in every word.

"And you've always been my inspiration," Ian answered, his love sparkling in his eyes.

The professors had moved from their adjoining condos in Landowe to Alder Run in 2006, a mere three months after they'd married at the Mace Chapel in Windover, Massachusetts, with only Ian's side of the family in attendance. The best move they'd ever made.

They clinked their mugs, then Ian said, "To a long run in Alder Run!"

Quinn groaned obligingly and echoed Ian's toast. He couldn't resist upping the ante, as he added, "May you never run out of puns for every occasion."

Their lunch came and they dug in enthusiastically, after high-level trading of the lamb and shrimp, for which their baked-goods dickering had been a warm-up. Ian even mixed the two dishes, enjoying the taste of the exotic herbs and spices blended together.

"Mmmmm. This is just delicious," Ian said. "Reminds me that I'd like to visit the new restaurant in the Student Center soon." He ate another forkful. "It serves Mongolian cuisine, and I've never had that before. We'll have to take the long way round to get to it; there's still construction in that section, even though they said they'd be done by the start of the semester."

"You always have a yen for variety and adventure at this time of year," said Quinn indulgently. "Case told me that the barbecue is delicious; he had a dish with chicken and mushrooms that he raved about after our last textbook-committee meeting."

"We've gotta try it." Ian speared a piece of broccoli with aplomb.

The men decided to save the bake-sale treats for later and ordered apple cobbler for dessert. By this time, they were glad they'd only had orange juice and oatmeal for breakfast. They had to wait about ten minutes for the cobbler, which gave them renewed gusto for their food.

After the meal, Ian paid with his MasterGuard and they relaxed at the table for a while, smiling at their friends and neighbors as they drifted by, feeling completely content with the galaxy swirling around them.

They stopped by their home before going to the events on the bike path and lake. Case and Billie had Sandy and Artoo at their house this Saturday, for a play date with their puppy, so they had no worries of being gone too long that afternoon. They left the books temporarily on the pie-crust table by the front door. Quinn put the treats away in the kitchen, while Ian took their new belts to the master bedroom and put them on a shelf in the closet. They drank some water and used the facilities, with Quinn heading to the bathroom in the hall, with his customary politesse, and Ian taking the master bath.

Before Ian could open the front door, Quinn couldn't resist reaching a long arm out to snag his lad for a hug. This inevitably led to a kiss, which tasted of autumn already, what with their apple cobbler for dessert. But the apples and cinnamon were not the tastiest parts of the kiss; their natural flavors shone through, even more delicious and intoxicating.

The breeze had made Ian's copper spikes stand up and shine for Quinn, and he took advantage, running a big paw through his laddie's soft hair. Ian purred into the kiss, enchanting Quinn all the more, as it teased a growl from him.

It was touch and go whether they'd make it out the door again, but their sense of duty won out. They'd promised Mr. Jefferson and his grandson that they'd be there for the first flight-test of his kite. After a light peck, filled with longing, they managed to untangle themselves and were ready to head out the door.

Since the rain was holding off, they walked to the bike path, to cheer on Sam and the other neighborhood children in their kite-flying and races. They got there in time for the start of the 100-yard dash and saw that two of the youngsters enrolled in The Academy of the Light were competing. Rooting them on, they were delighted when Lexi Dion won and went up to congratulate her and her friend, a boy they knew from the dojo. Lexi looked like she wasn't sure what to be happier about -- winning the race or the praise from her heroes.

Then they caught sight of Mr. Jefferson and his grandson. Sam was flying his purple kite, a beautiful part of the rainbow of kites in the sky, flown by the children of Alder Run. The men waved at their friends and started walking over to them.

Ian began to sing one of the favorite songs of his childhood, 'Let's Go Fly a Kite', the exhilarating finale of 'Mary Poppins':

"Let's go fly a kite  
Up to the highest height!  
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring  
Up through the atmosphere  
Up where the air is clear  
Oh, let's go fly a kite!"

Quinn joined in happily, as did Mr. Jefferson and Sam. The purple kite soared with the rest of the colorful kites high over the village. They couldn't have asked for a more high-flying celebration.

Alder Run was still going strong 300 years after its founding. Ian sent up a wish with the kites for 300 years more.


End file.
